


USD

by yeaka



Category: Travelers (TV)
Genre: M/M, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:26:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21892126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: Ray needs a favour.
Relationships: Ray Green/Philip Pearson | Traveler 3326
Kudos: 21





	USD

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Travelers or any of its contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

Philip could walk. He could also take the bus. Both would be more responsible. All the little thoughtless drives add up—carbon emissions are one of the twenty-first’s biggest problems, and Philip’s supposed to be fighting that. But when Ray shows up with the car after a group meeting, Philip slides into the passenger seat anyway, because listening to a few hours’ worth of sheer misery drains him completely. It’s good to see a familiar face, even a haggard one like Ray’s that smells of cigarettes. It’s nice to know that Ray’s got a _fuck it_ attitude and won’t unload more on him, but also won’t judge him—will even listen if _he_ really wanted to share, though he so rarely does. He can’t tell anyone what _really_ eats him up inside. For those few minutes, when he’s leaning back in Ray’s warn-down car, listening to Ray rasp along to outdated rock, Philip doesn’t feel quite so dead inside.

Then they pull up into the alley behind the warehouse, where Philip will have to go back to his shit life of watching terrible things happen, and reality sinks in again. He’s not just some washed-up junkie hanging out with an older man for the novelty of a car. He’s one of too few broken pillars trying to hold the world up despite its determination to fall. 

He stalls in opening the door. He doesn’t want to step out, but he will. He turns to Ray to say thanks for the ride. 

Ray’s looking at him with an apologetic glint in dark eyes, and Ray grunts first, “So, I need to borrow some money.”

Philip blinks. Just what he needs. It’s getting hard enough to hold up the team with what little he can pull in—the updates just don’t give him enough, and they’re useless almost as quick as they come. The others need more money—Mac’s got a fancy penthouse, Carly’s got a baby, Marcy tries to pay David back, and thank goodness Trevor’s just a student. Philip lives as dirt cheap as he can. He closes his eyes and sighs heavily, but he nods. If he can help Ray, he will. He asks, “How much?”

“Thirty grand.”

Philip doesn’t wince. Way too much.

“I’ll pay you back.”

He probably won’t be able to. Philip mutters, “It’s okay.”

“I’ll blow you for it.”

Philip’s eyes snap open. His head swivels around. Ray shrugs like it’s nothing and jokes, “Not that I got a thirty-grand mouth, but hey, just to give you something in the meantime.”

Philip swallows. His tongue suddenly feels too thick in his mouth, or maybe his throat’s dry. He doesn’t know what to say, but he awkwardly manages, “No. You... you can just have it...”

“Phil.” Ray gives him that _look_ , like he’s being crazy. Maybe he is. 

Weirdly enough, he’s never pictured that setup before. Usually, when he’s lying awake at night, dealing with withdrawals and hormones and whatever else his new body’s wracked with, the fantasies he comes up with are a little more wholesome than that. Watching porn’s no good, because they never have good narratives, and Philip needs that—he’d rather think about pulling Ray in for a slow kiss than making Ray suck him off for money. But that’s all just idle fantasy—nothing he’d _really_ thought about. 

He insists, “It’s fine.”

Ray looks at him for a long moment. Philip wonders if he should just get out of the car and run. Ray probably understands it’ll take him a while to come up with the money.

But Ray asks, “Can I blow you anyway?”

Philip’s heart is going to beat right out of his chest. He finally pushes open the passenger side door. 

He walks around the car and pulls the latch on the driver’s side. Ray grins and gets out too. Philip doesn’t even know what’s happening. He doesn’t know what they’re going to. He’ll probably have Ray place the bets for him anyway. In the meantime, maybe they can just... talk. Or something. 

He grabs Ray’s wrist and tugs Ray for the warehouse without daring to look back.


End file.
